Eruption

11

I could feel my jaw drop. Dusk was just settling over the city. A few lights had already turned on in Central Park. We were so close that it almost seemed like the building was in the middle of the park. I could see the Tavern on the Green in the distance. That was where we were getting married. Every day, I was going to be able to look outside and remember our wedding.

I knew that James didn't care about having this view. He had picked out this apartment because he knew it would make me happy. I felt him wrap his arms around me and kiss the side of my neck. I leaned my head back against his chest. Maybe we did need a fresh start. It was time to brush off the chip on my shoulder whenever people snickered about how we met. I was ready to let it all go. "When did you want to move our stuff in?"

He rested his chin on top of my head. "I took the whole week off."

"What are your employees going to think? A whole week off now and then time off for our wedding and honeymoon at the end of the month?"

"They're going to think that my fiancée isn't starting her internship until next Monday and I wanted time off to spend with her."

"If I don't get a different position."

"Of course. Although, I really only want you in one position right now."

I laughed and turned around, clasping my hands behind his neck. "Aren't you going to give me a tour of the rest of the house?"

His hands slid to my ass. "Is that really what you want to do right now?"

I bit my lip and shook my head.

Before his lips met mine, his phone started vibrating.

"Don't answer it," I said.

"It's probably work."

"I thought you had off this week?"

He squeezed my ass before putting his hand in his pocket and pulling out his phone. He turned around without even looking at the caller I.D. "Hunter."

His body seemed to stiffen. He cleared his throat. "Hi, Mom." He turned to me, put his finger in the air to signal he'd just be a minute, and then quickly walked back toward the foyer.

I folded my arms across my chest and turned back to look down at Central Park. The apartment suddenly seemed even colder. I closed my eyes, picturing myself in my wedding dress. All that mattered was that he wanted to marry me. His parents didn't have to be there. They didn't have to ever even meet me. James' love was enough.

I opened my eyes and stared down at the Tavern on the Green. The lights hanging in the trees outside the restaurant were shimmering, dancing in the summer breeze. James' love was all that I needed. But Jen said that their parents not wanting to meet me was weighing on James too. It was hurting him. Which meant I was hurting him. And it killed me. I ran my hands up and down my arms. It was freezing.

A few months ago, I had found their address and gotten a taxi to their house. I had stood outside the gate for several minutes before retreating. I had wanted to barge in on them and tell them they were being ridiculous. That they were horrible for treating their own son like this. I hated them for making him feel like he was unlovable. They had hurt him, in more ways than James would ever admit. But my telling them that wasn't going to help. They didn't respect me, so they wouldn't care about my opinions. I couldn't force it.

What it came down to was that they didn't want him to be happy. They put their own wants in front of his. And that wasn't what parents were supposed to do. It certainly wasn't what I was going to do with my own kids. I shook the thought away. That was just another reason to despise them. James said he was scared to have kids because of his problems. But really, it was their fault. He was worried he'd be a horrible parent because they were so awful.

"So, that was my mother."

I jumped. I hadn't heard him come back over to me. "Oh?" I used to get so excited whenever she would call, hoping that it meant she had changed her mind. Now I knew better.

He smiled. "They want to meet you."

"Sure." I laughed. "Let's set a date so they can cancel at the last minute. Can we not talk about this right now?"

"Apparently they found out the Caldwells were throwing us an engagement party. They've decided to commandeer it."

"What?"

"Jen told them about it or something. The party is being thrown at their house now. Apparently they just needed to feel like they were being cast aside." He shrugged.

"I think that's awfully rude to the Caldwells when they've been so nice."

"Yeah." He ran his hand through his hair. "That's what I said. She assured me the Caldwells were fine with it."

Now that it finally seemed like it was happening, I wasn't sure why I felt so hesitant. "What are the odds that they'll cancel a whole party?"

"It wouldn't look good. So, not very high."

"Does that mean they're coming to the wedding?"

"She didn't say. She just said we have a lot to talk about."

"You don't look very excited."

"Because you don't look very happy."

"I'm sorry." I took a deep breath. "They've just canceled plans with us so many times that..."

"She sounded serious this time. I think they're finally coming around. She said she was excited to meet you. She's never said that before."

I bit my lip.

"And she said to tell you congratulations on graduating."

"That was nice of her." I tried to dismiss all my negative thoughts from earlier. "I'm so disappointed that my parents won't be there. They were really looking forward to meeting your parents."

"They can't change their plans?"

"My parents aren't their own bosses like you." I smiled at him. "I guess they'll just have to meet your parents at the rehearsal dinner."

"It's probably best if you meet my parents by yourself first anyway. They can be rather intimidating."

"Do you think they're going to try to scare me away?" I laughed.

He lowered his eyebrows for a second. But the worried look was fleeting. "No, they wouldn't do that. We should have set Jen on them awhile ago. They rarely ever say no to her."

"I should have known she'd interfere when she told me she wouldn't."

He laughed.

"Does this mean I get to see where you grew up?"

"You can make fun of my old bedroom." He smiled and pulled me back into his arms. "But like I told you before, there really aren't tons of embarrassing photos of me or anything. My parents aren't like your parents."

I closed my eyes as I pressed my face against his chest. I knew he didn't mean that as an insult. He meant that his parents didn't care for him like my parents cared about me. I didn't want to go into meeting them feeling like this. But I wasn't sure if I could ever like them. Not after everything they had put James through.